5 Ways Apple Watch Makes Travel Easier

In case you haven’t tried it yet, the Apple Watch is so much more than a watch. It’s a beautifully and thoughtfully designed accessory that not only looks and feels great on your wrist, but keeps you connected to the things that matter to you in a discreet way. It provides a new way to seamlessly interact with your favorite apps and works in lock-step with your iPhone, keeping you up-to-date on emails, texts and phone calls. It’s a health monitor and a pedometer. It’s a GPS and a boarding pass. Did I mention that it’s so much more than a watch?

As a frequent traveler, the Apple Watch has become my most reliable, do-it-all companion, one I never leave home without. Here are five ways the Apple Watch makes travel easier:

Access to Essential Travel Apps

Download the apps of all the airlines you fly regularly and log in to your accounts on your iPhone. When you’re flying, check-in for your flight on your iPhone first. Add your boarding pass to your Passbook and you’re set. The Passbook app on your Apple Watch will then pull up your boarding pass so you can board your flight simply by scanning your watch. Fast, easy and so handy! And speaking of handy travel apps, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the TripIt app is available for the Apple Watch. Optimized to give users a seamless experience, it provides your flight details and gate information. Subscribe to TripIt Pro for real-time flight alerts like flight delays and gate changes. We might be biased, but we think the TripIt app for Apple Watch will change everything about the way you travel.

Go Hands-free

Anything that makes travel a little simpler and less stressful is an essential in our books! With the Apple Watch paired to your iPhone, you can tuck your phone away and keep your hands free for your suitcase and coffee. Stroll through the airport without juggling too many things and you’ll arrive at your gate feeling considerably less flustered.

Open Your Hotel Room Door

Some hotel Apple Watch apps allow you to check in to your hotel on your watch, get alerts when your room is ready and check out, which is all pretty cool and convenient. But Starwood’s app takes things one step further. SPG Keyless allows guests to open their hotel room door by simply swiping their watch in front of the door’s sensor. This high-tech feature is currently available at Starwood’s Aloft, Element and W hotel brands but now that the technology has been developed, we expect to see this concept rolled out at many more hotels in the months to come.

Directions Made Easier

Getting directions on your iPhone is pretty standard these days. How did we ever survive without the GPS technology built into our phones? The Apple Watch takes that experience and makes it even more user-friendly. Using the dictation functionality, you can simply tell your watch where you want to go. Alternatively, enter your destination into the map app on your iPhone and the directions will automatically pop up on your watch. The watch will discreetly tap your wrist when it’s time to take an action like make a turn. This way, you can spend more time focusing on what you’re doing and where you’re going instead of constantly looking down at your iPhone. This is particularly useful if you’re exploring a new city you’re not familiar with.

Get Foreign Translations Quickly and Easily

There are a variety of translator apps available for the Apple Watch but the one launched by InterContinental Hotels Group, IHG Translator, is touted as one of the best by TIME magazine. Simply speak into the watch or choose from pre-loaded words and phrases for translations that will make you feel like a local in no time. So, leave cumbersome phrasebooks at home and let your Apple Watch do all the heavy lifting. Plus, this app comes with other cool features like a tip calculator, currency convertor and a ‘culture crash course’ to bring you up to speed on local customs and traditions. Navigating a new destination has never been easier.

About the Author

Natalie DiScala is a writer, editor and digital content creator. With 15 years’ experience working at Canada’s leading design magazine, she now dedicates her time to her travel + style blog Oh! Travelissima, where she documents her travels and shares her tips and tricks for traveling smarter and more stylishly. Natalie and her husband Johnny Jet have traveled to 65 countries (and counting!) as a couple and when they’re not up in the air, they call LA home.